CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE RECAP

SportsBeat!

Written by Aaron Cantin

The Champions League group stage has once again not disappointed. Upsets and comebacks filled the headlines and for half the sides they have reached the end of the road. For the other 16, the tough part is about to begin. Let’s take a look at each group and how the teams fared.

Source: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Group A

Messi and Mbappe had some fun in PSG's group closer. It was anything but fun for Manchester City. City manager Pep Guardiola selected a strong lineup for the 2-1 loss at Leipzig despite his team being guaranteed as the Group A winner and in the middle of a busy domestic schedule. The city was sloppy at the back in conceding goals to Dominik Szoboszlai and Andre Silva before having right-back Kyle Walker sent off for a rash tackle from behind on

Silva, meaning the team will be missing a key defender for the first leg of the last 16. Riyad Mahrez scored City's goal in a match played without fans because of coronavirus restrictions. Leipzig finished third to stay in the European competition.

It was a stroll for second-place PSG in a 4-1 win over Club Brugge, with Mbappe scoring twice inside the first seven minutes and — at 22 years and 352 days — becoming the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the competition. Messi added his own double, the first a curler from outside the area and the second a penalty, and has now scored against a record-extending 38 different teams in the Champions League.

Group B

Three red cards, on-field brawls, countless chances, and a flurry of late goals. A wild, win-or-bust match in the Champions League between Porto and Atletico Madrid had it all on Tuesday. In the end, it was Atletico celebrating a place in the last 16 with a 3-1 win, emerging from a three-way fight for qualification in the final round of group games.

Porto started the night in second place, a point ahead of Atletico and AC Milan, which hosted Liverpool. Milan wound up losing 2-1, meaning the winner of the all-Iberian match at the Estadio do Dragao would advance. Atletico was outplayed for much of the game but was opportunistic in front of goal, with Antoine Griezmann scoring the 56th-minute opener at a corner and both Angel Correa and Rodrigo De Paul adding breakaway goals after the 90th minute.

Porto earned the consolation of a third-place finish and a spot in the Europa League knockout playoffs. With its victory, Liverpool became the first English team to win all six of its group games in a single Champions League campaign.

Group C

Ajax striker Sebastian Haller's first season in the Champions League has been a historic one. By converting an eighth-minute penalty for Ajax in its 4-2 win over Sporting, the Ivory Coast striker became only the second player — after Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017-18 — to score in all six matches of a single group stage. He finished with 10 goals in total. It's quite the rise to prominence for Haller, who was sold to Ajax by West Ham in January 2020 because he was struggling to get in the English team. Then, after joining Ajax, the Dutch club accidentally omitted Haller's name when submitting its squad for the Europa League so he couldn't be registered for the competition. Ajax was already sure of winning Group C and finished on a maximum of 18 points. Sporting had already secured second place.

Indeed, with Borussia Dortmund certain of a third-place before its 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Besiktas, the last round of matches in the group didn't affect the standings.

Group D

In a match that determined which team finished top of Group D, Real Madrid beat Inter Milan 2-0 despite being without injured star striker Karim Benzema. Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio, with a brilliant curler that flew in off the far post, scored the goals for the 13-time European champions.

Inter, which was already sure of a top-two finish, had Italy midfielder Nicolo Barella sent off for lashing out at Eder Militao.

In the other group game, Boban Nikolov scored a last-gasp equalizer for Sheriff to draw at last-place Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1.

Group E

FC Barcelona’s nightmarish season continued on Wednesday with a 3-0 defeat away to Bayern Munich. The loss, combined with Benfica’s 2-0 win on the road vs. Dynamo Kyiv, meant the Blaugrana bowed out of the tournament in disgrace – it’s only the fourth time that Barca failed to advance out of the group stage, and the first since the 2000-01 Champions League. The odds were stacked against the Spanish giants, who are now winless in five road matches (four losses) against Bayern in the Champions League.

Group F

Group F isn’t finalized yet. United had already won the group before a ball was kicked last night. Young Boys finish bottom, their European adventures over for another year. But yesterday’s other game between Atalanta and Villarreal was postponed due to heavy snow and will be played Thursday. Atalanta needs to win to make it through to the knockouts; a draw will suffice for Villarreal.

Group G

Two Canadians will compete in the knockout round of the Champions League after Jonathan David helped Lille OSC qualify via their 3-1 road victory over German outfit Wolfsburg VfL on Wednesday. David’s slick goal in the 72nd minute stood up as the winner and sealed first place in Group G for the reigning French league champions.

David, a 21-year-old native of Ottawa, marked his Champions League debut by finishing the group stage with three goals, playing a pivotal role in helping Lille qualify for the round of 16 for only the second time in their history.

Group H

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel criticized his players for lack of effort and poor focus after Wednesday's 3-3 draw at Zenit St Petersburg denied them top spot in Champions League Group H. Juventus snatched pole position from Chelsea's grasp, meaning the holders could now face Bayern Munich, among other teams, in the round of 16.

Tuchel was not impressed after Chelsea conceded more than one goal for the first time in 19 games in European competition, having suffered a 3-2 Premier League defeat at West Ham United on Saturday. Chelsea's German striker Timo Werner scored twice and set up the other goal for Romelu Lukaku.